Page 25 - Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools. First Edition, Covering Grades 1 to 12. 2010

CHAPTER 3 | performance standards – the achievement chart
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PERFORMANCE STANDARDS – THE ACHIEVEMENT CHART
CONTEXT
Criterion-referenced Assessment and Evaluation
Ontario, like a number of other jurisdictions, has moved from norm-referenced to criterion-referenced assessment and evaluation. This means that teachers assess and evaluate student work with reference to established criteria for four levels of achievement that are standard across the province, rather than by comparison with work done by other students, or through the ranking of student performance, or with reference to performance standards developed by individual teachers for their own classrooms. (There is no expectation that a certain number or percentage of students must be allocated to any one level of achievement.)
In the past, assessment and evaluation performance standards varied from teacher to teacher and from school to school, and this led to results that were not always fair for all students. Criterion-referenced assessment and evaluation ensure that the assessment and evaluation of student learning in schools across the province are based on the application of the same set of well-defined performance standards. The goal of using a criterion-based approach is to make the assessment and evaluation of student achievement as fair, reliable, and transparent as possible.
Samples of the Achievement Chart
Three samples of the achievement chart are provided in this section, from the following subjects/disciplines:
• The Arts, Grades 1–8
• Science and Technology, Grades 1–8
• English, Grades 9–12
These three samples illustrate the consistent characteristics of the performance standards across
all subjects and disciplines and across all grades. The samples also illustrate how the achievement chart varies – particularly with respect to the examples provided for the criteria in each category – to reflect the nature of the particular subject or discipline. For instance, the examples for the criterion “Application of knowledge and skills” in the Application category of the achievement chart for the arts include performance skills, composition, and choreography, whereas those for science and technology include investigation skills and safe use of equipment and technology.
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